Privacy Policy. What we collect and why.

Scope and Definitions

This Privacy Policy applies to the website at adityaguptaofficial.com (“the Site”) and all sub-domains operated by the publisher. It does not apply to third-party websites we link to, even when the link is contained within our content. Each linked third-party site has its own privacy practices that you should review separately.

For the purposes of this policy and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, the following definitions apply:

• “Personal Data” means any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data.
• “Data Principal” means you, the individual to whom the personal data relates.
• “Data Fiduciary” means the entity that determines the purpose and means of processing personal data — for the Site, that entity is Aditya Gupta Official.
• “Processing” means any wholly or partly automated operation performed on personal data, including collection, storage, retrieval, use, sharing, and erasure.

By using the Site, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of it, please discontinue use of the Site.

What Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the minimum personal data needed to operate the Site and improve the reader experience. The categories of data we collect are listed below.

Data you provide voluntarily. When you submit the Contact form, we collect the name, email address, subject, and message body that you choose to enter. If you subscribe to any future newsletter, we collect the email address you submit and a record of your consent.

Data collected automatically. When you visit the Site, our hosting infrastructure and analytics tools may automatically record technical data including your IP address (in truncated or hashed form where possible), the device type and operating system you are using, browser type and language, the referring URL, the pages you visit on the Site, the time you spend on each page, and the country your IP address resolves to. This data is used to understand traffic patterns, diagnose technical issues, prevent abuse, and improve the content we publish.

Data collected via cookies and similar technologies. We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to remember your preferences, measure analytics, and serve relevant advertising. The full list of cookie categories and named cookies is published on our Cookie Policy page.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data such as financial account numbers, biometric data, government-issued identifier numbers, health information, or data revealing religious, political, or sexual-orientation information. If such data is submitted to us inadvertently (for example in the body of a Contact form message), we will delete it on becoming aware of it unless retention is legally required.

Why We Process Your Data

Under the DPDPA, processing of personal data must be for a lawful purpose. The lawful purposes for which we process your data are:

• To deliver the service. We process automatically collected technical data to render pages, secure the Site against attack, and diagnose issues.
• To respond to your requests. When you submit the Contact form, we process the data you provide so that we can respond to your question or request.
• To improve the content. Aggregated analytics tell us which articles readers find useful and which need work. We use this to prioritise our editorial roadmap.
• To serve advertising. When you visit pages that show ads, our advertising partners (primarily Google AdSense) may process cookie data to serve more relevant ads. You can opt out as described in the Cookie Policy.
• To comply with legal obligations. We may retain certain data to comply with applicable Indian tax, accounting, and regulatory recordkeeping requirements.

Where the lawful basis for processing is your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time. Where the basis is a contractual or legal obligation, withdrawal may not be possible while the obligation continues.

Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal data. We do share limited data with a small set of carefully selected service providers (“Data Processors”) who help us operate the Site. The categories of recipients are:

Hosting and infrastructure providers. Our web host stores Site files and processes server logs containing IP addresses and request data. Server-side caching providers may briefly store request metadata.

Analytics providers. We use Google Analytics or a comparable analytics platform to understand reader behaviour in aggregate. These providers may set cookies and process pseudonymous identifiers.

Advertising providers. We use Google AdSense and a small set of approved advertising networks. These providers may use cookies and similar identifiers to serve and measure ads.

Email and communications providers. If we send transactional emails (for example, in response to a Contact form submission), we may use a third-party email-sending service.

Legal and regulatory authorities. We may disclose personal data when required to comply with a valid legal request from an Indian authority, when necessary to investigate or prevent abuse of the Site, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.

Where service providers are based outside India, the cross-border transfer is governed by the framework permitted under the DPDPA. We require all processors to handle your data with appropriate security and only for the purposes for which we have engaged them.

How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal data only for as long as needed for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by applicable law. Specific retention windows we apply:

• Contact form submissions: retained for up to 24 months after the last interaction, then deleted unless an active conversation thread requires longer retention.
• Email correspondence: retained for up to 36 months in active mailbox archives.
• Web analytics records: retained for up to 26 months in aggregated form. Raw event data is purged earlier where the analytics platform allows.
• Server access logs containing IP addresses: retained for up to 90 days for security and debugging purposes, then deleted.
• Advertising cookies: managed by our advertising partners according to their own retention policies, typically 13 months or as set by the user’s browser controls.

Where data must be retained longer to meet a legal or regulatory obligation, we will retain it only for that purpose and for the period the obligation requires.

Your Rights Under DPDPA

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 gives you specific rights over your personal data. As a Data Principal, you have the right to:

• Access a summary of the personal data we hold about you and the purposes for which we are processing it.
• Correct or update inaccurate or outdated personal data.
• Erase personal data we hold about you when retention is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected (subject to legal retention obligations).
• Withdraw consent previously given for processing, where consent was the lawful basis for that processing.
• Nominate another individual to exercise your rights in the event of your death or incapacity.
• Grievance redressal through our designated point of contact described in the next section.

To exercise any of these rights, please email contact@adityaguptaofficial.com with the subject line “DPDPA Request” and a clear description of the request. We will respond within the timelines required by the Act, typically within 30 days of receiving a verifiable request.

We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a rights request to prevent unauthorised disclosure. If we cannot fulfil a request — for example, because the data has already been deleted or because legal retention rules apply — we will explain why in our response.

Grievance Redressal

If you have a complaint about how we have processed your personal data, please first contact us at contact@adityaguptaofficial.com with the subject line “DPDPA Grievance”. We will acknowledge your grievance within seven working days and aim to resolve it within thirty days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to escalate the matter to the Data Protection Board of India, which is the regulatory authority established under the DPDPA. Contact details for the Board, once formally constituted and operational, will be available through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Children’s Privacy

The Site is not directed at children below the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children below that age. Under the DPDPA, additional protections apply to personal data of children, including the requirement to obtain verifiable parental consent.

If you believe a child has provided personal data through the Site without verifiable parental consent, please email contact@adityaguptaofficial.com with the subject line “Child Data” and we will delete the information promptly. We do not undertake any profiling, behavioural monitoring, or targeted advertising directed at children.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encrypted transport (HTTPS) for all traffic to and from the Site, restricted access to administrative systems, periodic review of who has access to what, and use of reputable third-party processors who maintain industry-standard security practices.

No system connected to the internet is perfectly secure. While we work to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a significant harm to a Data Principal, we will notify the Data Protection Board of India and affected individuals as required by the DPDPA.

Updates to This Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, regulatory developments, or service providers. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

For material changes that affect how we process your data, we will take additional steps to bring the change to your attention — for example, a prominent notice on the homepage for a defined period, or where appropriate and possible, a direct communication to readers who have shared their email with us.

Contact

For all privacy and data-protection matters, including DPDPA rights requests and grievances, please email us at contact@adityaguptaofficial.com. You can also reach us through the structured form on our Contact page.